Arts & Entertainment
Queery: Kenya Hutton
The D.C.-area youth LGBT advocate answers 20 gay questions
Kenya Hutton (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Kenya Hutton noticed in his LGBT advocacy work that there was often a gap between services for teens and young adults. That and losing a good friend to AIDS in his native Brooklyn in the ‘90s, inspired him to devote his life to HIV and young adult work.
“A lot of it is HIV prevention work and getting young adults to think about the things we do to put ourselves at risk,” he says. “And encouraging them to be productive citizens who don’t just have to accept whatever is thrown at them.”
Since moving to Washington in 2006 after two years of doing this kind of work full time in New York, Hutton, 34, has worked variously with HIPS, Us Helping Us and more recently, the Carl Vogel Center and a new organization, Voices of One in Maryland. He’s also on the board of D.C. Black Pride. Consulting and programming are his full-time work. Hutton says he’s been “blessed” to be able to find a way to do this kind of work as a career. In September, he was honored at an Alston House benefit for his youth advocacy work.
“Growing up in New York in the ‘90s was tough, very tough,” he says. “Although in New York, there were places you could go and get services, nobody really talked about being gay, HIV or sex in general. It just didn’t happen.”
Hutton and his boyfriend, Charles, have been dating since earlier this year. Hutton lives in District Heights, Md., and enjoys volunteering, cooking and traveling in his free time.
How long have you been out and who was the hardest person to tell?
I finally came out completely in 2006; the hardest people to tell were my little sisters. Even though when I told them, they said they already knew.
Who’s your LGBT hero?
RuPaul. She has been a public gay man for as long as I can remember. Truly a trailblazer.
What’s Washington’s best nightspot, past or present?
I’ve been privy to experiencing the Edge/Wet days on occasion. I’m not really into the nightlife scene anymore, but I’ve been to the Warehouse Loft and Nellie’s and they seem to be pretty fun.
Describe your dream wedding.
Get back to me on that.
What non-LGBT issue are you most passionate about?
Health care, especially for the elderly.
What historical outcome would you change?
LGBT inequality
What’s been the most memorable pop culture moment of your lifetime?
The death of Michael Jackson.
On what do you insist?
Being honest and straightforward. It prevents any misunderstandings further down the road if everyone will just be honest and straightforward in the beginning.
What was your last Facebook post or Tweet?
Waiting for the IOS 6 download!
If your life were a book, what would the title be?
“The Life of the Unknown.”
If science discovered a way to change sexual orientation, what would you do?
Nothing. If I wasn’t a gay man, I have no idea where I would be today.
What do you believe in beyond the physical world?
I believe there are forces that we cannot see that are around us.
What’s your advice for LGBT movement leaders?
We are still at the tip of the movement, don’t give up thinking our work is over!
What would you walk across hot coals for?
Love
What LGBT stereotype annoys you most?
That we are all loud, obnoxious sexual deviants.
What’s your favorite LGBT movie?
“Boys Don’t Cry”
What’s the most overrated social custom?
Partying all the time.
What trophy or prize do you most covet?
I love all awards I have received equally.
What do you wish you’d known at 18?
The true cost of things.
Why Washington?
I needed a change from New York. And Washington was the best logical place for personal and professional advancement.
The 2026 World Pride March was held on Saturday, Aug. 8 in Amsterdam. Tens of thousands of participants marched from Martin Luther Kingpark to the grounds of the Pride Village at Museumplein.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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The weekly drag show “Daddy Issues” was held at Kiki on Wednesday, Aug. 5. Performers included Evry Pleasure, Indiana Bones and Tiara Missou-Sidora.
(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)
Books
Something’s off about Dad. When is it time to step in?
‘When Memory Fades’ can help when families face dementia
‘When Memory Fades’
By Nathaniel Chin, MD
c.2026, St. Martin’s Essentials
$30/422 pages
Mom called you in a panic the other day.
She’d lost her keys and by the time you arrived to help, she’d found them. In the refrigerator.
These kinds of things keep happening, not often but often enough, and you don’t know quite what to worry about. But in the new book “When Memory Fades” by Nathaniel Chin, MD, you’ll learn about the journey ahead, for both of you.
You can’t remember why you walked into a room. You got lost last week, going to the bank. Popular wisdom says that things like that are normal as we age, but Chin says that’s not true – although the answer may not be a worst-case scenario, either. Yes, memory problems could just be signs of stress, dehydration, or lack of sleep – or is it time to see a doctor?
Chin says maybe, yes.
He was working his way through medical residency when his father, a geriatrician in Madison, Wisc., was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Chin, now a geriatrician, was blindsided, but that diagnosis also changed his life.
Here, he writes about the brain, and how Alzheimer’s and dementia are diagnosed, explaining that dementia has many faces and, depending on a doctor’s evaluation, memory problems might be slowed or improved. He shares his father’s illness with readers, but he also writes about his mother, a steadfast, steady caretaker.
Her story reminds reader-guardians to care for themselves, too.
Know how to talk the talk, so that you can have “a more productive” conversation with your doctor. Understand that there’s nothing “normal” about dementia or Alzheimer’s. Know the statistics – African Americans are affected with dementia twice as much as whites – and know how to lower your risks. Learn here what questions to ask, how to break the news to everyone, and any legal matters that will be important soon. And know how to tend to you.
Says Chin, “The best action you can take is to educate yourself… The more you understand, the better equipped you are to make sound judgments.”
Something’s off about Dad, just a lot of little things that don’t add up. When is it time to step in? “When Memory Fades” can help you decide.
Wise, wide-spread, comprehensive, and compassionately helpful, this is a book you can read and then take it to the doctor with your loved one. It’s a book that makes sense when nothing else does, and its biggest feature is that it smoothly transitions from easy-to-grasp science and charts, to gentle coaching for caregivers. Author Nathaniel Chin, MD writes with storytelling, humility, grace, and experience from both sides of the Alzheimer’s/dementia issue, and his words are reassuring but also urgent. Learn, but don’t wait, he says. Know how to safeguard yourself. See your doctor, and don’t fear testing. Watch for signs of depression. And never, ever stop asking for help.
Read those last seven words, and find “When Memory Fades” now. It’s a book to have on your shelf, whether you’re 45 or 95 because, as you’ll see, dementia happens and knowledge is key.
New LGBTQ visitor center slated for Wilmington, Del.
PHOTOS: World Pride March
Tens of thousands take part in World Pride March
PHOTOS: Daddy Issues at Kiki
Something’s off about Dad. When is it time to step in?
Continue to engage in community after Pride month
D.C.’s Mary’s House For Older Adults names new executive director
Suzanne Goode is not good for Rehoboth Beach
Calendar: August 7-13
